Naruto: Reborn as Sakura with Manyuu Chifusa Template

"I'm sorry that I can't be of more help, onee-sama," said Karin contritely, opening her eyes as she ended her Sensing Technique. "At this point, you'd need a tracker, rather than a sensor..."

Thanks to Shikamaru taking over her team and forcing her to search for a new one, Sakura's capture target had had plenty of time to flee. And if even Karin was saying that she could not sense Neji's presence with her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, which could perceive and differentiate between chakra signatures from up to dozens of kilometres away, then there was no way a regular Sensor-nin's range would be good enough.

"I would like to help."

Sakura massaged her temples, as she attempted to think of a way to track down her quarry. Maybe she could ask Ino for help? Her sensory abilities pre-Shippuden weren't very impressive, but she did have connections— her father Inoichi. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he'd been able to create a gigantic sensing barrier encompassing all the front lines, with the aid of thousands of sensors and Ao of the Byakugan.

"Hello? Can you hear me? Or are you ignoring me on purpose?"

Sakura ignored the annoying buzzing sound in her ear. She had to think of something, or Lady Tsunade would lose confidence in her— and then she'd never get those stupid restrictions lifted.

"Er… onee-sama?" said Karin hesitantly, glancing over Sakura's shoulder. "I think this person is trying to tell you something…"

"Just give me a minute," said Sakura reluctantly. "I'm sure I'll think of something amazing soon…"

Cold sweat was running down Sakura's back like a waterfall. That buzzing, that infernal buzzing— anyone but him! She just couldn't stand things that had more than four legs!

"Kurenai-sensei told me everything," said Aburame Shino impassively. "I can help you track down Neji."

Just like Kiba, Shino was one of Hinata's teammates in Team 8, so he was also invested in uncovering the truth behind Neji attacking his own cousin— not that it showed on his expressionless face.

"Don't you need to plant a female bug on someone before your male bugs can start tracking them?" Sakura asked pointedly. "Unless… don't tell me you've planted bugs on all of us!?"

Sakura began patting herself down in a panic, attracting strange looks from passersby on the street. The original Sakura had never had this particular weakness— she had inherited her entomophobia from her previous life's dreadful experiences!

"You're well informed," said Shino calmly. "But that is not how I intend to track down Neji. I have with me a Bikōchū…"

Shino rummaged around in his pockets and produced a small plastic box, which had a few round breathing holes carved into its sides; inside the box was an armoured beetle, which had a long horn on its head. In Sakura's disgusted opinion, the horn looked rather like an elephant's trunk…

"They're extremely rare, but I happen to own a few," Shino explained. "A few months ago, Tenten gifted me a mating pair which she found during a mission, so I'm raising a small colony of them."

Naturally, Tenten had been lying to Shino when she'd told him that she'd just happened to find a pair of SSR beetles on one of her missions. She had ordered Neji to comb the Bikōchū's natural habitat with his Byakugan and to bring back one male and one female. Once Neji had found the correct insects, she'd handed them over to Shino for safekeeping, intending for them to be used on Sasuke when he'd inevitably defect.

However, unfortunately for Tenten, she'd been forced to throw away her pawn in order to save her queen, due to unforeseen circumstances…

"Won't that…. thing imprint on the first thing it smells?" asked Sakura, who was just now remembering an extremely minor filler arc from the original Naruto animation. "We'd better find something that belonged to Neji quickly, then…"

"You're… actually very well informed," said Shino, a small amount of astonishment leaking into his normally neutral voice. "You are correct— the Bikōchū's sense of smell is unparalleled, as it is able to track down even month-old scents— but it can only track a single scent in its entire life."

Shino's heart fluttered as he spoke— could it be that Sakura was actually a tsundere?

Could that look of utter contempt and disgust on her face be a cover for a girl who didn't want her boyish hobby of insect collecting to be known? Sighing inwardly, Shino resolved to guard Sakura's secret with his life— every day, he was finding himself more and more hopelessly in love with the busty pink-haired girl…

Karin gave Shino with a pitying look.

From the sickly-sweet aura tinging his chakra, she more or less knew what he was feeling— and from Sakura's aura, she could tell that Shino repulsed her with every fibre of his insect-infested being!

"No need," said Shino, pushing up his round sunglasses with the base of his palm. "I've already taken care of giving the Bikōchū one of Neji's socks to smell. There is nothing left to do but to let the Bikōchū free and to follow it to its destination."

Sakura and Karin gave Shino a strange look— how on Earth had he obtained that!?

"Shall I?" Shino proposed, holding up the plastic insect cage.

"Just give me a second," said Sakura apprehensively, shying away from the transparent cage and leaning over to whisper in Karin's ear. "Are there any ANBU watching over us right now?"

Karin shook her head. She knew that look on Sakura's face— she was about to do something naughty again…

"All right, we meet in front of the village gates ten minutes from now," Sakura declared. "Dismissed!"

Before leaving the safety of the village, Sakura needed some insurance— some kind of life-saving method.

As long as her Yin Seal's matrix wasn't fully completed, she wouldn't be able to withdraw any of the chakra she'd previously invested in it— not without everything falling apart like a house of cards. To put things into perspective, condensing a Yin Seal was like building a water bowl out of water: you would first need to freeze the water into the shape of a bowl before it could be used to carry any water.

Once the framework of the Yin Seal was completed, Sakura would be able to withdraw as little or as much chakra as she wanted without unravelling the seal and causing her head to explode, but until then, she'd have to find some other emergency chakra supply…

And so, Sakura headed to Yakiniku Q's in the city centre and entered the restaurant, which was completely empty this early in the morning. The fat lady who owned the barbecue place was a relative of Chōji's, which meant she carried the Akimichi bloodline…

"Welcome!" the woman shouted from the back of the restaurant, upon hearing the door chime. "How many people in your party?"

Sakura then began rapidly opening and closing the restaurant's door, effectively spamming the door chime. Breathing deeply, Sakura infused the chime's sound waves with her chakra, carrying her mind's wavelength to the poor unsuspecting owner and her employees…

"Genjutsu: Bell Sound Clone— Ding Dong Ditch Ver.!"

The Yakiniku Q's owner fell into a dazed state, as she imagined herself chasing after some young neighbourhood doorbell pranksters. But in the real world, Sakura had reached under the fat middle-aged woman's apron, and her hands were massaging her broad bust— and the moment she felt her own breasts tingle, Sakura ended the transfer.

"And don't let me catch you!" the owner shouted obliviously; shaking her fist at no one in particular, as Sakura walked out of her restaurant. "I've seen your faces, you damned brats!"

Ding! Congratulations to the Host for unlocking the Breast Diet Jutsu!